For the Love of Leather

I fell in love with leather. My affair with this material started with shoes, a beautiful pair of brown high ankle leather boots. I got them from one of the many street side shops of the infamous ‘Chor Bazaar’ near Red Fort, in Delhi. There she was scattered among a pile of leather sandals, oxford’s, derbies and loafers. For some reason, I just had to wear them. After all these years the wrinkles of use have creased her face but she still looks beautiful.

A few year later in one of my trips to the mountains, I found an ill-finished camel-leather backpack and the next two years I used it to its limits, but through all the rough use I started appreciating the functional purpose leather serves in bags. I used it every day (holiday adventures included), and I could see how it had responded to my use. The material kind of came alive then, because it had evolved. Leather somehow made sense and I have explored this material ever since.

The story of leather starts with Cotton, wood, and clay, along with various other metals these elements have had a key role to play in the history of our material culture. And even today it maintains a position of importance due to its nature of being a durable, functional, highly responsive and just plain old charming, and like many good things in life, leather also becomes better with age. Its use gets reflected on its state of shine and luster. It’s a character unique to Leather and that needs to be experienced to be appreciated.